Free will...

It is logically inescapable that free will, as usually defined, is an illusion; yet John Searle thinks it is odd that evolution would produce this illusion when it has no survival value (13 January, p 48).

The ability to carry out "what if" mental simulations is clearly an advantage to the higher animals. But this creates a design problem: two sets of mental processes need to co-exist. One attends to the here and now, and the other periodically roams around a simulated mental world.

The sensations involved in sight and sound are therefore needed to avoid confusion between real and simulated experiences. Hunger and pain are similarly needed to focus mental energy on real problems rather than being dissipated in unnecessary simulations.

The feeling of free will when a simulation process produces a decision is real enough, but the simulation is determined - as is everything else in our lives. ...

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